Comprehensive Conservation Plan North Dakota National Wildlife Refuges September 2008 Prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Approved by Audubon National Wildlife Refuge Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge Stephen D. Guertin Date Lake Nettie National Wildlife Refuge Regional Director, Region 6 Lake Zahl National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service McLean National Wildlife Refuge Lakewood, CO Shell Lake National Wildlife Refuge Stewart Lake National Wildlife Refuge Stump Lake National Wildlife Refuge White Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Region 6, Mountain-Prairie Region Division of Refuge Planning 134 Union Boulevard, Suite 300 Lakewood, CO 80228 Comprehensive Conservation Plan North Dakota National Wildlife Refuges Submitted by Concurred with by Kim Hanson Date Richard A. Coleman, PhD Date Project Leader Assistant Regional Director, Region 6 Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge Complex National Wildlife Refuge System (Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pingree, ND Lakewood, CO Lloyd Jones Date Paul Cornes Date Project Leader Refuge Supervisor Audubon National Wildlife Refuge Complex U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 6 (Audubon, Lake Ilo, Lake Nettie, McLean, Stewart Lakewood, CO Lake, and White Lake national wildlife refuges) Coleharbor, ND Roger Hollevoet Date Project Leader Devils Lake Wetland Management District Complex (Kellys Slough, Lake Alice, and Stump Lake national wildlife refuges) Devils Lake, ND David Gillund Date Project Leader Lostwood Wetland Management District Complex (Lake Zahl and Shell Lake national wildlife refuges) Kenmare, ND Contents Abbreviations ..................................................................................ix Summary . ....................................................................................xi 1 Introduction .................................................................................1 1.1 Purpose and Need for the Plan ...............................................................1 1.2 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Refuge System . 3 1.3 National and Regional Mandates . 4 1.4 Refuge Contributions to National and Regional Plans ...........................................4 1.5 Ecosystem Description and Threats . 9 1.6 Planning Process ..........................................................................11 2 The Refuges ................................................................................15 2.1 Establishment, Acquisition, and Management History . 15 2.2 Special Values . 32 2.3 Purposes .................................................................................32 2.4 Vision ....................................................................................33 2.5 Goals . 33 2.6 Planning Issues . 33 3 Refuge Resources and Descriptions .........................................................37 3.1 Physical Environment . 37 3.2 Biological Resources .......................................................................46 3.3 Cultural Resources ........................................................................57 3.4 Chase Lake Wilderness . 58 3.5 Visitor Services ...........................................................................58 3.6 Partnerships ..............................................................................60 3.7 Socioeconomic Environment ................................................................60 3.8 Operations . 62 4 Management Direction ......................................................................63 4.1 Management Focus ........................................................................63 4.2 Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Rationale . 64 Habitat and Wildlife Goal ....................................................................64 Monitoring and Research Goal ................................................................82 Cultural Resources Goal .....................................................................84 Visitor Services Goal ........................................................................85 Partnerships Goal ..........................................................................89 Operations Goal ............................................................................89 4.3 Funding and Staff . 90 4.4 Step-down Management Plans . 90 4.5 Monitoring and Evaluation . 91 4.6 Plan Amendment and Revision ..............................................................95 Glossary .......................................................................................97 vi Comprehensive Conservation Plan—North Dakota National Wildlife Refuges Appendixes Appendix A—Key Legislation and Policy .......................................................107 Appendix B—Preparers and Contributors ......................................................115 Appendix C—Public Involvement . 119 Appendix D—Section 7 Biological Evaluation ...................................................123 Appendix E—Environmental Compliance . 127 Appendix F—Fire Management Program for National Wildlife Refuges within the Eastern North Dakota Fire District ...................................................................131 Appendix G—Fire Management Program for National Wildlife Refuges within the Western North Dakota Fire District ...................................................................135 Appendix H—Bird Species of the Refuges ......................................................139 Appendix I—Primary and Secondary Bird Species of the North Dakota Prairie . 147 Appendix J—North Dakota’s Threatened and Endangered Species . 149 Appendix K—Priority-setting Example for Native Prairie Portions of Fee-title Lands ...............151 Appendix L—Compatibility Determinations for Wildlife-dependent Recreational Uses, Grazing, Haying, and Farming . 155 Bibliography ..................................................................................165 vii Figures 1 Vicinity map for the 12 refuges, North Dakota . 2 2 Map of the bird conservation regions of North America . 6 3 Map of the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States and Canada . 7 4 Map of ecosystems in region 6 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ..............................10 5 Steps in the planning process . 11 6 Map of Audubon National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota. 20 7 Map of Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 21 8 Map of Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 22 9 Map of Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 23 10 Map of Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 24 11 Map of Lake Nettie National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota ....................................25 12 Map of Lake Zahl National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota ......................................26 13 Map of McLean National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 27 14 Map of Shell Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 28 15 Map of Stewart Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 29 16 Map of Stump Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota ....................................30 17 Map of White Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 31 18 Map of the physiographic regions in North Dakota .............................................39 19 Map of the level 4 ecoregions in North Dakota . 40 20 Map of the predicted duck-pair concentrations in North Dakota . 53 21 Map of the seven-county core area for piping plover in North Dakota . 55 22 Map of the whooping crane sightings in North Dakota ..........................................56 23 The adaptive management process. ..........................................................95 Tables 1 Planning Process Summary for the 12 Refuges, North Dakota. 12 2 Land Information for the 12 Refuges, North Dakota . 32 3 Ecoregions of the 12 Refuges, North Dakota ..................................................41 4 Conditional Water Permits for Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 44 5 Prairie Decline in North Dakota .............................................................46 6 State-listed Noxious Weeds Found at National Wildlife Refuges in North Dakota ..................49 7 Step-down Management Plans for Audubon National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota. 91 8 Step-down Management Plans for Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 91 9 Step-down Management Plans for Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 91 10 Step-down Management Plans for Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 92 11 Step-down Management Plans for Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 92 12 Step-down Management Plans for Lake Nettie National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota ............93 13 Step-down Management Plans for Lake Zahl National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota ..............93 14 Step-down Management Plans for McLean National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 93 15 Step-down Management Plans for Shell Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 94 16 Step-down Management Plans for Stewart Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 94 17 Step-down Management Plans for White Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota . 94 Abbreviations Administration Act National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 APHIS Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service BCR bird conservation region CCP comprehensive conservation plan CFR Code of Federal Regulations cfs cubic feet per second CWCS comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy CWD chronic